The Williams Record

Men’s track places 33rd at nationals

Men’s track and field tied for 33rd out of a total of 61 teams at the NCAA championships three weeks ago. The team scored seven points at the meet with Mack Chaffee ’09 earning his second All-American honors after finishing eighth in the mile, with a time of 4:15.40. In addition to Chaffee’s performance in the mile, the men’s Distance Medley Relay team of Mack Brickley ’08, Andrew Arons ’08, Edgar Kosgey ’10 and Chaffee also competed. The relay squad earned third place in the event, also worthy of an All-American honor.

The squad returned to Williamstown and hosted its first outdoor meet of the season on Saturday. The Ephs played host at the Williams Invitational in a non-scoring meet that included Williams alumni among the competitors, claiming many top finishes.

Deividis Seferis ’08 and Sy Schotz ’10 stepped up to lead the Ephs in the short sprint events, as Seferis won the 100 in 11.08 seconds and Schotz took first in the 200 in 23.13. The two sprinters were given the chance to showcase their speed as the Ephs’ top sprinter, Andrew Arons ’08, moved up to the 400. Arons’ move to the 400 allowed some of the team’s middle distance runners the chance to test their mettle against him across the one-lap race.

In addition to Arons, sprinter Alex Hoerman ’09 stepped into the race after taking the indoor season off. Arons quickly took the lead, while Edgar Kosgey ’10 tried to keep even. But as the runners neared the final stretch and approached the finish line, Arons (49.71) and Hoerman (50.37) closed to finish in second and third place, respectively. Plattsburgh’s Jeff Dobson (49.67) claimed the victory by just .04 seconds.

Corey Watts ’10, known for his high-mileage training and toughness over long distances, dropped down to race the 1500. For much of the race, it seemed that the battle for first place was between Plattsburgh’s Ben Jackson and Williams’ Brooks Udelsman ’09. As the race neared its end, however, Udelsman began to fade as Watts made a furious charge to catch Jackson over the last 150 meters. Just running out of distance, Watts had to settle for a respectable second place in 4:14.56, as Jackson took the victory just half a second ahead of him in 4:14.02.

The distance events featured Williams’ traditional strong purple pack, as all the entrants in the 3000 were Williams athletes at one time or another – Chris Ellis-Ferrara ’07 was thrown into the mix of current Williams runners. Corey Levin ’08 took first place in that race, and Ellis-Ferrara followed close behind as three more Ephs crossed the line within 15 seconds. Colin Carroll ’07 took first in the 5000 in 15:45.69.

Stew Buck ’08 and Matt Desir ’09 led Williams in the hurdles races, as the two packed a 1-2 punch in the 400 hurdles. Buck led from the start, cruising to victory in 57 seconds flat, and Desir came in just under a second behind him in 57.92. In the 110 high hurdles, Isaac Nicholson claimed fourth place in 18.43 seconds.

The Ephs proved just as adept in the field events. In the shot, Andrew DeSalvo ’08 dominated to take first with a throw of 14.15 meters, and Syvad Young ’11 (12.16m) claimed second over Nate Newburg ’09 (12.05m). Young came back in the discus throw to win handily – his throw of 36.37 meters beat the next closest competitor by nearly two meters.
Williams earned another sweep in the triple jump, winning places one through four. John Dingee ’10 continued to lead the Eph triplers as he jumped 13.34 meters. Henry Montalbano ’10 jumped to second in 12.68 meters, as David Kessel ’08 and Steve Rubin ’11 followed in 12.58 and 12.36 meters, respectively.

The Ephs will compete this weekend at UMass Amherst before racing in the Little Three championship in two weeks.